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Congratulations to the people of Egypt who with their peaceful gathering, have brought about the impossible.
Let us all hope that democracy will rule, the ancient monuments and archaeological heritage will be respected, and their future will be bright.
M.VIB.M.
Actually one of the side effects of this revolution is that pupils of mine in school are realising by watching all this that history is a great subject !! :lol:
Bushido wa watashi no shuukyou de gozaru.
Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!
H.J.Vrielink.
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Agreed. After watching this for days and days we finally get a result. Let's hope for some kind of democracy. But if they get it - it will be a first in that part of the world. Breaking news - the Swiss government has frozen all the 'assets' Mubarek had secreted away into Swiss bank accounts. That should help in reconstruction since it is clear this tyrannical crook had helped himself to millions at the very least ...
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Democracy in itself is not a guarantee that the new bosses will be any less autocratic than the old bosses. Examples in that general region include the PLO in the West Bank, Hamas in Gaza, the Ayatollah in Iran, Taliban in Afghanistan, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and whoever will fill the power vacuum in Iraq with the withdrawal of troops this summer. There may be some who would say the people in those countries are more free now, but I'm not so sure.
Jordan and Tunisia and Algeria will have to be seen to be believed, whether freedom or bondage will be the result of their impending overthrows.
If one nation sets up a revolution in another, and creates a "democratic state", then it's bad form to criticize the government or political parties that take the lead, and/or expect them to mirror the viewpoint of the backers of the revolution. It's also naieve, imho, to think that the "people" were the leading force of the overthrow, and not another political group trying to gain control...such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Maybe they represent the "people's view" and maybe they have their own agenda that they'll implement. We'll see in the next few months, won't we?
BTW, there were not a few killed in this "non-violent" power shift, weren't there? Nothing like this happens without casualties.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
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About 300 my friend...
No revolution goes without casualties...
And you are very right in stating the Egyptians are not there yet !
Parliament is still not dissolved, the Army is in power, so it is a waiting game now..
M.VIB.M.
Bushido wa watashi no shuukyou de gozaru.
Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!
H.J.Vrielink.
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What I think is going to be the most difficult part is where a new constitution has to be drawn up, and agreed by all parties and not forgetting those who are still in power at this time the Military Chiefs if indeed they will allow this.
Brian Stobbs
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As they say, it's not over until the fat lady sings. And she hasn't yet.
No matter what happens, we hope the non-historically minded notice that real history is not so neatly packaged nor so simple as the drivel their fed on the nightly news or at school.
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil
Ron Andrea
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Just a minor technical point, though...while the world is singing that they will have "democracy" (huzzah!), the fact is they will have a republic at best, probably heavily influenced by Sharia law, which is not conducive to what we generally consider "freedom". This is an important distinction.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
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Hmm. Now that the military has suspended the constitution, and dismissed the parliament, the situation is more difficult to predict. It could become anything from a new republic with one or more houses of parliament in one form or another, all the way to a military dictatorship.
Depends on what the military decides to do.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
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I agree wholeheartedly with M. Demetrius' various posts - which sum up the situation well. "The Military" have run Egypt since its independence ( don't forget Mubarak and his deputy were former Generals and most of their cronies and appointees are military as well).
As one of the young men apparently leading the 'revolution' perspicaciously commented:-
"Egypt has a stinking pyramid of corruption. Mubarak's regime extended to every level. All we have done is remove the cap-stone of the pyramid."
And it seems the Generals persuaded Mubarak to go as a 'sacrifice' so that the rest of the structure could carry on 'business as usual'. There may be a new capstone, but it is very likely the 'pyramid' will remain the same and largely intact, even if dressed up as a democracy as a sop to that huge financial prop, the U.S.A. - too many vested interests at work for any serious change .
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
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Also wondring whether any of the stolen artefacts will ever turn up somewhere...
M.VIB.M.
Bushido wa watashi no shuukyou de gozaru.
Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!
H.J.Vrielink.
